Configuration File Documentation

This documentation provides a detailed explanation of each section and parameter in the configuration file. This configuration file is used for processing and managing data collected from 4chan. Each section corresponds to a specific aspect of the data collection, processing, and storage pipeline.

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[general]

This section contains general configuration settings for the application.

• url: The base URL used for accessing the forum data.
  Example: https://a.4cdn.org/

• time_format: The time format used when parsing or formatting time values.
  Example: %%H:%%M:%%S corresponds to Hours:Minutes:Seconds.

• date_format: The date format used when parsing or formatting date values.
  Example: %%Y:%%m:%%d corresponds to Year-Month-Day.

• path_temp: The directory path for storing temporary files.
  Default: tmp

• path_Ftype: File type for output files.
  Default: csv

• lookback_days: The number of days to look back when processing data.
  Default: 30

• process_data: A boolean flag to enable or disable data processing.
  Default: True

• padding: A boolean flag to indicate whether to pad data for consistent formatting.
  Default: False

• contraction_mapping: A boolean flag to enable contraction expansion (e.g., "can't" -> "cannot").
  Default: False

• non_alpha_numeric: A boolean flag to remove non-alphanumeric characters during text cleaning.
  Default: False

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[thread_info]

This section contains configuration details related to thread-level information.

• threads_key: The key name for the list of threads in the data.

• thread_number_key: The key for the unique thread identifier in the source data.
  Default: no

• thread_cmt_number_key: The key for the total number of comments in the thread.
  Default: posts

• matches: The column name to store matched key phrases.
  Default: matches

• text_clean: The column name for storing cleaned text.
  Default: text_clean

• p_com: The column name for storing the original posted comment.
  Default: posted_comment

• collected_dt_key: The column name for the datetime the data was collected.
  Default: collected_date_time

• posted_dt_key: The column name for the datetime the comment was posted.
  Default: posted_date_time

• date_key: The column name for the date.
  Default: date

• now_key: The column name for the current timestamp.
  Default: now

• time_key: The column name for the time.
  Default: time

• omit_ids: A list of thread IDs to omit from processing.
  Example: 4884770, 21374000, 26847096, ...

• boards: A comma-separated list of boards to process. The below are boards that are currently supported, add new boards as needed.
  Example: pol,biz,diy,his,sci

---

[renamed]

This section maps original column names to new standardized column names.

• no: Maps to thread_id.
• sub: Maps to thread_header.
• com: Maps to posted_comment.

---

[board_specific]

This section defines the specific columns to retain for each board during processing.

• biz_keys: Columns for the biz board.
  Example: thread_id, thread_header, posted_date_time, collected_date_time, ...

• pol_keys: Columns for the pol board.
  Example: thread_id, thread_header, posted_date_time, collected_date_time, ...

• diy_keys: Columns for the diy board.
  Example: thread_id, thread_header, posted_date_time, collected_date_time, ...

• sci_keys: Columns for the sci board.
  Example: thread_id, thread_header, posted_date_time, collected_date_time, ...

• his_keys: Columns for the his board.
  Example: thread_id, thread_header, posted_date_time, collected_date_time, ...

---

[s3]

This section contains configuration for AWS S3 bucket storage. All of this can be customized based on your AWS account and data structure.

• bucket: The name of the S3 bucket where data is stored.
  Default: chanscope-data

• data_prefix: The prefix for data files in the S3 bucket.
  Default: data

• raw_prefix: The prefix for raw files in the S3 bucket.
  Default: raw

• processed_prefix: The prefix for processed files in the S3 bucket.
  Default: processed

• models_prefix: The prefix for models stored in the S3 bucket.
  Default: models

• padding_data: The padding suffix for data files.
  Default: _data_

• padding_gather: The padding suffix for raw files.
  Default: _raw_

• padding_processed: The padding suffix for processed files.
  Default: _processed_

---

[s3_refresh_destinations]

This section specifies the configuration for refreshing S3 data. Similar to the above section, this can be customized based on your AWS account and data structure.

• source_bucket: The source bucket for S3 data refresh.
  Default: chanscope-data

• source_prefix: The prefix for the source data in the S3 bucket.
  Default: data

• roling_bucket: The rolling bucket name for incremental updates.
  Default: rolling-data

• daily_bucket_rolling: The daily rolling bucket name for market-stratified updates.
  Default: market-stratified

• lookback_days: Number of days to look back for processing rolling data.
  Default: 30

• daily_lookback_days: Number of days to look back for processing daily data.
  Default: 1

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Notes:

1. Key Phrases JSON: Ensure that the key_phrases.json file exists and contains valid categories and phrases. Add key phrases as needed.
2. S3 Buckets: Update S3 bucket names and prefixes based on your AWS account and data structure.
3. Custom Boards: Add new boards in the boards list under [thread_info] and specify their keys under [board_specific].
4. Error Handling: Validate column existence (e.g., thread_id, posted_comment) before processing to avoid runtime errors.

This configuration file is structured to handle large-scale forum data processing efficiently and flexibly. Update values as per your project's requirements.

Usage

Leverages the 4chan API to retrieve thread and post data from various boards. The API provides structured access to 4chan's JSON-based endpoints for efficient data retrieval and analysis.